Christian youths rioted Sunday in the
Nigerian city of Jos, killing at least three
people in suspected reprisal attacks after a
suicide bomber killed three at a church,
witnesses said.
An AFP reporter saw three bodies lying by a
street near the bombed church. Elsewhere,
he saw a row of Muslim-owned shops that
were apparently burned by the rampaging
youths.”There was a rampage by angry
Christian youths after the blast at the church.
They marched on the streets and set up a
barricade on the road leading to the church.
They also burned down shops owned by
Muslims,” said resident Bello Mohammed.
He said he heard that four people were
killed in the rioting, but an AFP
correspondent saw three bodies, watched
over by soldiers who were deployed to the
city.Earlier a suicide bomber had smashed
his explosives-laden car through the gates
of a packed church during Sunday service,
killing three people and injuring dozens,
Church leaders said.Witnesses said a black
car crashed through the gate of a perimeter
fence and exploded a few metres (yards)
from the wall of an 800-seater church hall in
the central city.
Bulus Gambo said “youths were very angry
and mobilised … and I overheard them
saying they were going to avenge the
attack”.The city of Jos and its environs in
Plateau State are one of the most volatile
areas in Nigeria, where hundreds of people
have been killed in a spate of sectarian
clashes between Muslim and Christian ethnic
groups in recent years.State officials
appealed for calm after the blast and the
rioting, urging people not to take the law
into their hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment